Mangshui gushu Lingyun | The fairy poetry 2021

This raw pu'er tea comes from my dear friend and producer Mr. Yu Hongwen, who lives in Mangshui town in the Baoshan region, near the Lancang River — the upper Mekong — in Yunnan province. Old gushu tea trees are scattered all around the town, across the surrounding hills and mountains. They are simply countless.

I first visited Mr. Yu in 2015, and then returned every spring until 2019. Those were precious years. Unfortunately, we haven't seen each other since — but the friendship and knowledge I built during those visits were enough for me to reach out and ask him for something I had long been thinking about: a custom raw pu'er recipe, made exactly the way I imagined it.

Gushu trees are handpicked with one bud and four leaves. After the shaqing process — pan-firing to halt oxidation — the leaves are naturally dried on bamboo nets under direct sunlight. Once fully sun-dried into maocha, they are carefully sorted into two categories: well-processed buds (one bud, two to three leaves) and huangpian yellow leaves (usually the third and fourth leaf). Not all huangpian are actually yellow — there are good quality ones and poor quality ones, the latter being mostly fully yellowed leaves.

The recipe I proposed to Mr. Yu consists of good quality gushu yellow leaves (5/9) and beautiful, fragrant Minggu tea buds (4/9). The yellow leaves bring sweetness, a crystal clear infusion, and a gentle, low-caffeine character. The buds bring the opposite — full caffeine power, fragrant and profound bitterness, and a hazy infusion from their fine, fluffy hair.

Together they make something remarkable. This tea has a powerful cooling effect on the body and a very floral, long-lasting aftertaste. You can pour a full litre of water over just 7g — and it will still not be exhausted.